I took 2 ladles of Boris, and spawned Ryu, Son of Boris.
He's fed in the same way as Boris, though reduced the quantities to build him up good and strong, nice and slowly, until the volume was about the same as Boris, then kept to the usual Shelf/Fridge diet.
2 rye bakes in, and he's a little ripper.
Tuesday 17 September 2013
Monday 16 September 2013
Baking Day
A day off work.
We're on holiday to the beautiful Lake District quite soon, so this was a freezer filling frenzy bake so we have good bread for a week.
Between some house jobs I did a monster double bread baking session. One mix of basic white sourdough, and one of rye bread.
A lot of effort in timings, equipment, and oven space.
Music: Today we chuckled along to the Lost Fingers, recommended by my good buddy Charlie. Also fired up some Fleetwood Mac, and 'Versus' by Kings of Convenience, remixes of their songs including Royksopp and Four Tet - epic.
Both doughs were started the night before. And each were knocked back 3 times at 1 hour intervals before the final shape and bake. I did some different shapes, and one in a loaf tin for some good sandwich bread.
Both were made using the same quantities and method. It's interesting that the Rye bread, which I was expecting to be denser and closer baked, does come in at about 2/3 the size of the white. It's by no means a stodge-fest, but shows the difference in the flour.
One loaf wouldn't fit in the little oven - this became the 7 Punch Survivor, and saved from the freezer (the poor little fella had been through enough) as our weekly loaf. Tasted good with my Mum's tomato soup, pretty well straight from the greenhouse.
We're on holiday to the beautiful Lake District quite soon, so this was a freezer filling frenzy bake so we have good bread for a week.
Between some house jobs I did a monster double bread baking session. One mix of basic white sourdough, and one of rye bread.
A lot of effort in timings, equipment, and oven space.
Music: Today we chuckled along to the Lost Fingers, recommended by my good buddy Charlie. Also fired up some Fleetwood Mac, and 'Versus' by Kings of Convenience, remixes of their songs including Royksopp and Four Tet - epic.
Both doughs were started the night before. And each were knocked back 3 times at 1 hour intervals before the final shape and bake. I did some different shapes, and one in a loaf tin for some good sandwich bread.
Both were made using the same quantities and method. It's interesting that the Rye bread, which I was expecting to be denser and closer baked, does come in at about 2/3 the size of the white. It's by no means a stodge-fest, but shows the difference in the flour.
One loaf wouldn't fit in the little oven - this became the 7 Punch Survivor, and saved from the freezer (the poor little fella had been through enough) as our weekly loaf. Tasted good with my Mum's tomato soup, pretty well straight from the greenhouse.
The 7 Punched Survivor
I did a 'double bake day', and one loaf wouldn't fit in the oven. I was following the basic sourdough bread recipe and did one white, one rye.
As it didn't fit, I kept on punching it down as in the recipe. Then we had to go out, so I punched it down some more, and some more.
In the end it was punched down 7 times, then baked as normal.
I thought the yeast might run out of steam, but it came just fine.
I wouldn't say any better, or worse, than a normal loaf, but shows you can flex the bake to suit your day.
Awesome.
As it didn't fit, I kept on punching it down as in the recipe. Then we had to go out, so I punched it down some more, and some more.
In the end it was punched down 7 times, then baked as normal.
I thought the yeast might run out of steam, but it came just fine.
I wouldn't say any better, or worse, than a normal loaf, but shows you can flex the bake to suit your day.
Awesome.
Best Crumble Topping (apple and berries)
I had a good bagful of cooking apples from my parents apple tree. I've made crumble slightly differently every time, but always pretty much along these lines, it's a pretty loose recipe so substitute and vary as required.
Music: Baked this whilst the baby was having his night time feed, so 'In the Night Garden' accompanied this bake - #thuglife.
Makes 2 large crumbles so can freeze one - halve these if only making one - I used 2 Pyrex trays like these, they're good and deep:
300g plain flour
300g oats
300g soft brown sugar
250g butter cut into small cubes
6 digestive biscuits, crushed
Zest of 1 orange
maple syrup/honey/golden syrup
nutmeg
10 cooking apples
frozen/fresh berries
cinnamon/star anise
100g sugar
dusting of flour
For the best crumble topping for any crumble:
Combine the flour, oats, sugar, biscuits, nutmeg, zest and 200g of the butter.
Rub butter into mixture to make crumbly mix.
Add maple syrup and mix through.
Reserve the remaining 50g butter to dot on top
For the fruit mix:
Peel and chop apples, leave some bits big for a little bite, and some very small for good goo.
Dust with cinnamon or add a couple of star anise (recommended)
Mix through sugar (use more if apples are particularly sour)
Dust with flour, this is just to slightly limit the liquid produced.
Top with the best crumble mix. There should be enough for a generous thick topping.
Music: Baked this whilst the baby was having his night time feed, so 'In the Night Garden' accompanied this bake - #thuglife.
Makes 2 large crumbles so can freeze one - halve these if only making one - I used 2 Pyrex trays like these, they're good and deep:
Ingredients:
300g plain flour
300g oats
300g soft brown sugar
250g butter cut into small cubes
6 digestive biscuits, crushed
Zest of 1 orange
maple syrup/honey/golden syrup
nutmeg
10 cooking apples
frozen/fresh berries
cinnamon/star anise
100g sugar
dusting of flour
Method
For the best crumble topping for any crumble:
Combine the flour, oats, sugar, biscuits, nutmeg, zest and 200g of the butter.
Rub butter into mixture to make crumbly mix.
Add maple syrup and mix through.
Reserve the remaining 50g butter to dot on top
For the fruit mix:
Peel and chop apples, leave some bits big for a little bite, and some very small for good goo.
Dust with cinnamon or add a couple of star anise (recommended)
Mix through sugar (use more if apples are particularly sour)
Dust with flour, this is just to slightly limit the liquid produced.
Top with the best crumble mix. There should be enough for a generous thick topping.
Wednesday 4 September 2013
Basic White Sourdough Bread
For the Overnight Sponge
500g strong white breadflour
600ml lukewarm water
1 ladleful of strong, active starter (fed 24 hours previous) aka The Boris, leave some in the jar for regeneration
For the Bread
600ml strong white bread flour
25g sea salt
A good glug of oil (I use English rapeseed)
A tbsp of honey/golden syrup/maple syrup or similar (can be omitted)
Extra flour, semolina or similar for dusting
Equipment needed
Large bowl
Stand mixer with dough hook if not feeling strong
Pizza Stone or baking tray
Somewhere to let dough prove (flour dusted wooden board, brotform basket etc)
Optional water mister/plant sprayer
The night before....
Make the 'sponge'.
Mix the sponge ingredients together until smooth, this should make thick batter. Cover the bowl overnight for The Boris to do his work.
Think about tomorrow, there's going to be some waiting around for proving (see below). Would it worth getting a English Muffin Dough on the go as well? These freeze really well so you wouldn't be totally breaded out.
Baking Day
Get the tunes sorted - today started with Bob Marley for early chill, followed by a playlist on Spotify called Psychadelic Jazzy Jamzzz by Conrad Phillips, which did what it said on the tinSponge should have risen up and be super bubbly.
OK, large bowl required. Mine is a childrens mixing bowl, from where I do not know.
Assemble all the remaining ingredients (aprt from the oil, if using) along with the Sponge from the night before and mix together to form a soft dough - it will be pretty sticky at this stage.
Oil a work surface to knead, or sling in the K-Mix. 10 mins minimum by hand, no more than 5 mins in the mixer. I add the oil at this stage to work through the dough.
The resulting dough should be springy to touch and should form a tight round. Form a round by continuously tucking the dough underneath itself to leave the top 'stretched'.
Place in the clean bowl (I lubricate the bowl a little first), cover and leave for 1 hour.
After the hour, knock seven shades of crap out of the dough (really go at it to bash all the air out), and reform back into a round. Leave for another hour.
Do the bashing again.
Leave for an hour.(this is the bit that makes doing anything else in the day difficult)
As such, if you think you need to leave for longer than an hour, put the whole bowl in the fridge to slow down the process, you might get away with up to 2 hours between bashings that way.
 |
| After 1 hour |
After 3 repetitions (or 2, or 4, whatever works), knock down and shape into 2 or three loaves by making tight rounds again.
 |
| After 2 Hours |
In this bake I needed buns for a breakfast picnic so made 9 buns and the remainder into a small loaf. You could shape any way you like.
 |
| After 3 Hours |
Leave, covered with a plastic bag/damp teatowel or whatever, until doubled in size. This could take 2 hours but go by size not time.
When nearly ready (do not leave them to long or the yeast will burn out), get the oven HOT, highest setting type hot. If using pizza stone(s), chuck these in to get hot. Also put a baking tray in the bottom of the oven. We tip boiling water into this to make steam which makes a bubbly crust.
When up to temperature, boil the kettle, take the stones out and transfer the bread to them (or to baking tray), be careful, don't knock all the lovely air out. A hot stone will kick start the process. Slash the tops with a serrated knife or razor blade. I cut mine like dragon scales with scissors.
If you have a plant sprayer, mist water over the bread (again for a god crust). With this batch I sprinkled some real ale over the bread for good colouring and taste. (I used Battledown Brewery Sunbeam left over from a party keg).
Throw it all in the oven, and quickly chuck boiling water in the tray for good steam action, a good half litre to litre will be fine, most of it will evaporate.
Leave at the mega hot temperature for 10 mins, then reduce to 190 degrees unless looking very brown already, then make it a little cooler (170 deg?). Bake for a further 40 to 50 mins.
They should be browned and crusty, and sound hollow if you tap the bottoms of the loaves.
Sourdough English Muffins
These were a bit tricksy due to the wetness of the dough, but they came out great.
I have a Cusinart panini style grille which opens out with flat griddle plates - it was perfect for doing these. They came out great. I pulled them gently apart with a fork and toasted under a really hot grill to make them good and crispy.
Music on: 'Tomorrow's Harvest' by Boards of Canada
Weather: Beautiful sunny Saturday, late English summer is the best weather in the world
This made 19 muffins, we ate 2 straight off the griddle, toasted 2 for breakfast. I froze the rest (ready sliced) so can have muffins on demand.
2 ladles sourdough starter aka Boris (mine is a thick batter consistency)
2 teacups buttermilk (I reckon you could use milk, water, whatever you have)
4 teacups flour (I used basic white bread/strong flour)
1 tablespoon honey (I actually used maple syrup as was all out of honey)
1 tsp sea salt (I brought some home from Ile de Re which was is awesome)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Semolina for dusting
You must start the day/night before to get the sourdough starter active.
Don't be a muppet, use a nice big bowl, this schizzle grows!
2 ladles of sourdough starter go into a bowl along with the 2 teacups of buttermilk (or other liquid). Stir to combine. If the starter is very thick, maybe thin it down, you're looking for a thin batter consistency. Mine was like pancake batter I would say.
Add 4 teacups of flour to the batter. I made simple white muffins (if it ain't broke) and stir well.
(this would be the time if you wanted to flair up the recipe with some nuts/seeds/fruit etc?)
Cover the bowl and leave overnight.
The next day, when ready, you'll see the wild sourdough monster has been active and should have expanded your dough considerably.
Throw your tsp of salt on top of the dough, along with the tsp of bicarb and the honey. Roughly mix it all into the dough.
Oil your surface (I did this on a wooden worktop) well as this mix is pretty wet and empty out the bowl. Knead to fully incorporate the extra ingredients. This was very sticky so I worked quickly with oiled hands and kind of slapped it about until it held together pretty well.
Generously sprinkle some semolina on a plate or chopping board. Divide the mix up to try and make blobs a little smaller than ping pong balls. It's sticky, and therefore tricky. Roll around in the semolina which should help take some of the stickiness away and place on a baking sheet. I used a non-stick one - this is only while they prove a little but thought it would be easier to transfer them.
Leave for 45 mins to an hour under a damp (clean obviously) tea towel.
Towards the end of this time get a griddle on. A frying pan would probably work just as well, I used a 'health grille' style bit of kit which worked great.
Carefully transfer to a medium hot griddle (I didn't use any oil/butter, but do so if you have sticking problems). I used a fish slice for this.
Reckon I did about 5 mind each side, then threw in a warm oven while I did the rest - did the griddle action based on external appearance alone, on the theory that these would be toasted in any case, so if they were a little underdone that would be OK.
That's it.
Def use a fork to prise apart, every little mountain and valley is a crispy home for melted butter.
A pretty impressive breakfast with some fresh eggs. I made a sort of hollandaise sauce with some mayo and tarragon. I added a little turmeric for a little earthy flavour and nice yellow colour. These were named Eggs Cumberbatch as they weren't quite genuine Benedict.
It was our wedding anniversary weekend. I got brownie points.
Process photos to follow on next bake
I have a Cusinart panini style grille which opens out with flat griddle plates - it was perfect for doing these. They came out great. I pulled them gently apart with a fork and toasted under a really hot grill to make them good and crispy.
Music on: 'Tomorrow's Harvest' by Boards of Canada
Weather: Beautiful sunny Saturday, late English summer is the best weather in the world
This made 19 muffins, we ate 2 straight off the griddle, toasted 2 for breakfast. I froze the rest (ready sliced) so can have muffins on demand.
2 ladles sourdough starter aka Boris (mine is a thick batter consistency)
2 teacups buttermilk (I reckon you could use milk, water, whatever you have)
4 teacups flour (I used basic white bread/strong flour)
1 tablespoon honey (I actually used maple syrup as was all out of honey)
1 tsp sea salt (I brought some home from Ile de Re which was is awesome)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Semolina for dusting
You must start the day/night before to get the sourdough starter active.
Don't be a muppet, use a nice big bowl, this schizzle grows!
2 ladles of sourdough starter go into a bowl along with the 2 teacups of buttermilk (or other liquid). Stir to combine. If the starter is very thick, maybe thin it down, you're looking for a thin batter consistency. Mine was like pancake batter I would say.
Add 4 teacups of flour to the batter. I made simple white muffins (if it ain't broke) and stir well.
(this would be the time if you wanted to flair up the recipe with some nuts/seeds/fruit etc?)
Cover the bowl and leave overnight.
The next day, when ready, you'll see the wild sourdough monster has been active and should have expanded your dough considerably.
Throw your tsp of salt on top of the dough, along with the tsp of bicarb and the honey. Roughly mix it all into the dough.
Oil your surface (I did this on a wooden worktop) well as this mix is pretty wet and empty out the bowl. Knead to fully incorporate the extra ingredients. This was very sticky so I worked quickly with oiled hands and kind of slapped it about until it held together pretty well.
Generously sprinkle some semolina on a plate or chopping board. Divide the mix up to try and make blobs a little smaller than ping pong balls. It's sticky, and therefore tricky. Roll around in the semolina which should help take some of the stickiness away and place on a baking sheet. I used a non-stick one - this is only while they prove a little but thought it would be easier to transfer them.
Leave for 45 mins to an hour under a damp (clean obviously) tea towel.
Towards the end of this time get a griddle on. A frying pan would probably work just as well, I used a 'health grille' style bit of kit which worked great.
Carefully transfer to a medium hot griddle (I didn't use any oil/butter, but do so if you have sticking problems). I used a fish slice for this.
Reckon I did about 5 mind each side, then threw in a warm oven while I did the rest - did the griddle action based on external appearance alone, on the theory that these would be toasted in any case, so if they were a little underdone that would be OK.
That's it.
Def use a fork to prise apart, every little mountain and valley is a crispy home for melted butter.
A pretty impressive breakfast with some fresh eggs. I made a sort of hollandaise sauce with some mayo and tarragon. I added a little turmeric for a little earthy flavour and nice yellow colour. These were named Eggs Cumberbatch as they weren't quite genuine Benedict.
It was our wedding anniversary weekend. I got brownie points.
Process photos to follow on next bake
The Boris, Sourdough Starter
I got my sourdough starter from a friend, using a handed down starter seems to me the best way to go, chances are it's good and strong, and proven in use.
It's named The Boris and it's strong and sour.
The Boris is a straightforward, white bread flour based starter. I hope to start experimenting with other flours and create other starter(s) in time.
Alternatively, starters can be made from scratch. I have no experience of this. Kits are available online; San Francisco sourdough starter kits seem the most popularly used.
The starter can be of various consistencies. Bakers refer to the 'hydration level' of the starter, meaning how watery or stiff the starter is. I don't know the hydration level of the The Boris, but try and keep him like a stiff batter consistency.
The starter can be seen as a living yeast which needs to be fed. Feeding makes the sourdough larger, and so you will either need to use, store, discard or share the starter as it grows.
This is where I skip the science bit.
I keep the Boris in a glass jar with the lid just left loose. I like to keep it about 2/3rds full so I have enough to use, and enough left over to grow again for next time. Maintaining this quantity is easy enough using the steps below and so I don't find I need to do any calculations or weighing to keep the little fella alive and kicking.
I think a glass jar works well - I can easily see the bubbles to know that The Boris lives, and there's no deep scratches like you might get in plastic for bacteria to grow.
At room temperature, Boris is a regular eater. He has 2 full shot glasses of strong white bread flour every morning. He then has 1 shot of water and a good mix with a spoon. The is probably supposed to be room temp or even lukewarm but I use cold fresh from the tap and have had no problems. My theory is that it will come to room temp eventually anyway and I'm in no hurry.
Boris bubbles away quietly on the shelf, and grows up quite large after feeding, and then regresses a little till the next feed. Just like belly.
When Boris has reached a good size, he goes into the fridge which effectively slows down his metabolism, like hibernation I guess. When in the fridge, his diet is the same as above, but only once a week.
Changing the levels of food (keeping the rough ratio the same), and storage method lets me keep a suitable quantity of sourdough at any one time. This way I can grow if I want enough to share, or have a big baking weekend coming, or store for a while if life gets in the way of the bake.
Leaving in the fridge for a while usually leads to The Boris splitting and liquid collecting on top. If I spot this I give it a mix, but have left like this for some time and doesn't seem to cause a problem.
(Will update with pictures soon)
It's named The Boris and it's strong and sour.
The Boris is a straightforward, white bread flour based starter. I hope to start experimenting with other flours and create other starter(s) in time.
Alternatively, starters can be made from scratch. I have no experience of this. Kits are available online; San Francisco sourdough starter kits seem the most popularly used.
The starter can be of various consistencies. Bakers refer to the 'hydration level' of the starter, meaning how watery or stiff the starter is. I don't know the hydration level of the The Boris, but try and keep him like a stiff batter consistency.
The starter can be seen as a living yeast which needs to be fed. Feeding makes the sourdough larger, and so you will either need to use, store, discard or share the starter as it grows.
This is where I skip the science bit.
I keep the Boris in a glass jar with the lid just left loose. I like to keep it about 2/3rds full so I have enough to use, and enough left over to grow again for next time. Maintaining this quantity is easy enough using the steps below and so I don't find I need to do any calculations or weighing to keep the little fella alive and kicking.
The Boris Diet
The Boris on the Shelf Diet:
At room temperature, Boris is a regular eater. He has 2 full shot glasses of strong white bread flour every morning. He then has 1 shot of water and a good mix with a spoon. The is probably supposed to be room temp or even lukewarm but I use cold fresh from the tap and have had no problems. My theory is that it will come to room temp eventually anyway and I'm in no hurry.
Boris bubbles away quietly on the shelf, and grows up quite large after feeding, and then regresses a little till the next feed. Just like belly.
The Boris Fridge Diet:
When Boris has reached a good size, he goes into the fridge which effectively slows down his metabolism, like hibernation I guess. When in the fridge, his diet is the same as above, but only once a week.
Changing the levels of food (keeping the rough ratio the same), and storage method lets me keep a suitable quantity of sourdough at any one time. This way I can grow if I want enough to share, or have a big baking weekend coming, or store for a while if life gets in the way of the bake.
Leaving in the fridge for a while usually leads to The Boris splitting and liquid collecting on top. If I spot this I give it a mix, but have left like this for some time and doesn't seem to cause a problem.
(Will update with pictures soon)
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